The Flame Singing in My Heart
by missturkey
Summary: When Dumbledore told Harry the prophecy, he didn't tell him everything. Harry finds out about a dark secret of his past which will change his life forever. Year 6, spoilers, AU. Read and Review. Entire story now COMPLETE!
1. The Lie

**The Flame Singing in My Heart**

CHAPTER ONE—THE LIE

"I don't know how McGonagall expects us to finish two rolls of parchment by tomorrow's lesson," muttered Ron to Harry as they hurried out of their Transfiguration lesson. She had assigned them a stressingly hard essay on transformations of complex organisms. Harry shrugged back, not really paying attention, as he saw Ginny stalking towards him, her eyes flashing in anger.

"Dumbledore wants you to have this," she said, shoving a rolled bit of parchment which he assumed was another summons to a private lesson into his hands.

"What happened to you Ginny?" asked Harry and Ron at once.

"Crookshanks ate my Pygmy Puff. Hermione's got some answering to do..." she said ominously.

"Oh, well, er, thanks for bringing me the note, see you later," Harry said quickly, trying to avoid being caught in the middle of a nasty affair. He pushed past both the Weasleys, wanting to open his note from Dumbledore.

As he paused in the hallway to unroll the scroll, he wondered why he had assumed Dumbledore would call for a lesson—of course, he had already told Harry that there would be no more until he got the the memory from Slughorn. The note read:

_Dear Harry,_

_Please come to my office at 8:00 tonight. I have something more important to tell you which I feel cannot wait._

Another lesson? What could this mean? Was there something more important than Slughorn's memory that had come up? And hadn't Dumbledore already told him the biggest secret of all, the truth about Harry's destiny?

Harry had to wait another five hours before any of his questions were answered. He walked to the third floor, zoomed across the hallway, and went to the bathroom. After relieving himself, he jogged up the stairs to Dumbledore's office, climbing the ever familiar staircase to meet the large wooden door. He knocked a little impatiently, and heard the Headmaster yell back, "Enter!" There was Dumbledore, watching him gravely over steepled fingers. At a wave from the old man, Harry took a seat.

"Harry," he began, "I have something important to tell you... very important. Tonight I'm going to tell you something I should've told you six years ago--"

"Professor, you told me that last year...," realizing he was being a bit rude, he hastened to explain himself, "I mean, I thought you had told me everything I needed to know about myself last year... is there something you've been hiding from me?" Try as he might, he couldn't suppress the thought of Dumbledore betraying him yet again, and it was all he could do to keep his eyes from watering as he thought about what had happened the last time Dumbledore had said that.

"Indeed I did," Dumbledore said in a funereal tone, his long nose trembling in what Harry could only guess was fear... but fear of what? "Harry, it is time for me to tell you the truth about your parents. Harry, Lily was not your mother, nor did James Potter sire you."

Harry blinked. He shrugged his shoulders, wondering if Dumbledore really _had_ lost his marbles. "Erm... what exactly—what exactly do you mean?"

"I mean that the Potters were not your parents."

Harry blinked again.

"Harry, your parents were sirens."

Harry blinked once more.

"Well, your mother was a siren."

Another blink. "And my father?"

"Your father was a dragon."

Harry doubled over as if in great pain. Dumbledore rushed, quite gracefully for an elderly man such as himself, and stepped over to Harry.

"What's wrong Harry? Is it Voldemort? Has he got you? Answer me! _Answer me!_"

Harry lifted his face and it was immediately apparent that something was terribly wrong. He trembled, his face was crimson, and his squinty, almost slitted, eyes were leaking tears.

"HAHAHAHA!" Harry laughed maniacally.

Dumbledore was astonished. The boy was actually incredulous!

Harry gathered himself withing a few minutes, still wiping a few tears off his cheeks and clutching his sides. "Nice one, Professor, Sir! So, am I not doing my transfiguration essay to hear a great joke, or is there actually something to tell me?" Harry watched Dumbledore's face, then seeing the serious look he gave him that Dumbledore completely believed what he was saying.

Harry thought it over. How _could_ it be true?

He could think offhand of about a dozen reasons why it couldn't be. First of all, he didn't look like a mermaid, or a dragon. Second, why on earth would Voldemort be afraid of a freak half-breed like that? Third, how is it even possible for a dragon to mate a siren (sirens don't even have legs!)? Fourth, why would everyone tell him that Lily and James were his parents if they weren't? Fifth, why did he resemble Lily and James? Sixth, how could he use magic if he was such an odd cross of species? Seventh, why did he live with the Dursleys? Eighth, why did no one but Dumbledore know about this? Ninth, how _did_ Dumbledore know about it? Tenth, why didn't Dumbledore tell it to him before if it was true? Eleventh, it wasn't the sort of thing you said offhand at an 8:00 meeting with a student. Twelth, where were his "parents" then, and shouldn't his real parents be the ones who "thrice defied the Dark Lord?"

Harry repeated these exact questions to Dumbledore. All the Headmaster said in reply was, "Have you ever wondered why you're so good at swimming, and have a strange affinity for flying?"

Harry thought it over. It was true that he loved both water and flying. But that had no logical argument to it. "Professor, how do you know all this?"

"That, Harry, is a very long story, which goes back to nearly 17 years ago. But this isn't the time for that story. Run along to your common room now, finish that essay—Minerva is really getting tough on you kids!--and meet me in the morning at your first opportunity."

"But Professor--"

"Tomorrow Harry, tomorrow."

END OF CHAPTER ONE

A/N-Did youlike it? Worked really hard on this, and it only gets better!

By the way, ten house points to anyone who knows what HOFBrINCl stands for!


	2. The Truth

CHAPTER TWO—THE TRUTH

Harry couldn't believe Dumbledore was making him wait for all that. All his life he had been waiting to hear something about his parents, to hear a moment of truth, and now he was going to. So why did Dumbledore keep it away from him?

After a fitful night of pseudo-sleep and hours of tortuous classes, Harry waited for the bell to ring so he could run up to the Headmaster's office. He went the exact same route as he did before, minus the bathroom detour, and knocked fearfully on Dumbledore's door. He began to think—what if Dumbledore really was loony? What if he didn't know what he was talking about, and had progressed further on the path of senility?

He raised his fist again, preparing to knock, but the door flew open in front of him. Dumbledore, twinkling, stood in front of Harry.

"Come in, Harry come in! We have very many important things to discuss, so let's not waste any time!"

And once Harry was seated and they had finished the pleasantries, Dumbledore began to talk.

"It all began nearly 17 years ago..."

"17 years ago, your mother, a siren of the name Seaglory, fell in love with a Hungarian Horntail. Nobody knows who he is or where he came from. He can't even talk, really. The young couple had a child, a strange being who resembled both parents remarkably. He had the scales of both his parents, claws of his father, and the voice of his mother. But, from what happened, it seems obvious that the dragon only stayed because of the lure of Seaglory's voice. He left as soon as she became pregnant—once they become pregnant, siren's temporarily lose their ability to sing.

"The siren, unable to protect her strange baby from her kin and the outside world decided to sacrifice her love to you and send you away. Her good friend, Lily Potter, took you in and brought you to me to change your appearance so you'd be safe and accepted in the wizarding world.

"I believe Lily and James planned on telling you at some point, but since... well, we may never know, now. All that I know has been told to you."

"But... why did I live with the Dursleys? Why didn't you return me to my real mother then?" All the questions from the last meeting still seemed unanswered, bouncing in his mind from side to side.

"You didn't return to your mother because she couldn't be found. No one knows who she is, or where she'll be. The sirens migrate every year. I'm afraid that if you want to find out more, you will have to seek your parents. Your _real_ parents."

"Professor... I'm still not sure that I believe you."

"Harry, what reason have you to disbelieve? Think on it—I've hear you've a wondrous voice when singing in the dormitory shower."

Harry thought. It was true that he sang unusually well around water. And he had felt a strange affinity for the Hungarian Horntail when he competed in the Triwizard Tournament, not to mention an weird feeling of brotherhood with the Mermaids, despite their ghastly looks. Plus, he was the youngest seeker in over a century, and his flying skills were nearly legendary by now. He looked up, almost grimacing.

"But—but Sir, how can it be true? I mean... I mean... that just doesn't—it's just not right!"

"You will have to search your own heart to find the truth, Harry. I have done all I can for you."

When he got back to Gryffindor Tower, Harry talked privately to Ron and Hermione, not wanting to break the news as Dumbledore had to himself.

"What do you two think... of dragons? You know, as a friend?"

"Are you thinking of Norbert again, Harry? He was just a beast, nearly burned Hagrid's house down!" said Hermione.

"Yeah, he bit me pretty bad. But it'd be bloody wicked to have one in a properly controlled environment—Charlie does that all the time," Ron added.

Harry frowned. So his only two friends would think of him as a beast, or at best, a dangerous pet. He made his decision.

"You know that I'm leaving Hogwarts, then? It's for... I have to... I need some training, if there's another confrontation... with Voldemort. You know, that stuff," he finished rather lamely.

Ron and Hermione blinked, and Harry mentally steeled his mind for the outburst.

Five hours later he had packed his things and was ready to leave on his journey to find his past so shrouded in mystery.

END OF CHAPTER TWO

A/N—Did you like it? I know it's a bit more boring, but the next chappie starts with Harry's adventure! Stay tuned!

By the way, no one answered about HOFBrINCl!


	3. The Forbidden Forest

CHAPTER THREE—THE FORBIDDEN FOREST

Harry had already said his goodbyes, excused himself from the school, and was making his way to the forbidden forest. As the one place he knew that was filled with magical creatures, he felt sure that information about his parents might be found there. Whether it was true or not, and Harry was still not convinced by Dumbledore, remained to be seen.

The sun had begun to set before Harry had made his way through the forest. He had been careful to avoid the paths of Aragog and the centaurs, knowing that danger lay on those paths. But as the shadows lengthened, Harry began to hear dark noises among the gnarled trees, and jumped with alarm as he felt the cold steel of a well-sharpened tool touch the nape of his neck and rest there.

"Do not move again, man-child, if you wish to live. What brings you here to our enclave, wizard?" The voice spoke the last syllables with such contempt, that Harry withered inside. It seemed that whatever form he took, everyone could detect the beast inside him.

"I didn't come to meet your... enclave. I was passing through the forest. I'm running _away_ from Hogwarts." Harry trembled as he spoke.

"_From_ Hogwarts? Do you too have a quarrel with the humans who live there?"

"I do."

"Then you will not be harmed here. You may stay the night, but by the sun's first light you must leave us."

Harry considered for a moment. "Alright. That's fair," feeling that this was a bit of a nonchalant way to phrase things, he repeated, " I mean, yes, I agree, thank you."

"An agreement has been made. You may sleep among those trees over there. A pile of leaves has been made for you while we were talking."

"You... you _knew_ I'd be here?" At those words, Harry felt the cold weight of the arrow lift from his neck, and heard heavy footfalls behind him. He quickly turned around and caught a fleeting glimpse of a hairy behind and a mans torso seated on it. _It was a centaur_!

Well, that certainly explained how the "enclave" seemed to know he'd be coming. He looked back at the withered pile of leaves which was to be his bed and sighed. He was lucky not to have been killed.

As he looked beyond the clearing, he saw twelve sleeping bodies, presumably centaurs. That made thirteen with the guard. An alarm went off in Harry's mind—centaurs never travel in herds of thirteen! If there was anything practical he had learned from Firenze, it was that. He looked around the twelve sleeping centaurs, looking for a body just out of sigt but didn't want to risk getting any closer.

He abandoned his search and returned to his "bed." Travel-weary and dehydrated, Harry dropped onto the rustling leaves without taking off his robes. Something hairy flicked at his face, like a mop thrown at him.

"Whoa!" he exclaimed inadvertently. He jumped up at the same time as the creature did.

It was another centaur. Harry had never seen a female centaur, but he was sure this was one. Her moonlit face had a pale beauty, framed by rich dark lustrous hair. Her body was a slightly lighter shade of brown, and all was neatly groomed to a shine. She was... beautiful.

"I, er, I, uh, didn't mean to—I mean, it's okay--" Harry felt extremely awkward knowing that he had set his head right next to her tail.

"My name is Malva. There's no need to be embarrassed—I'm generally ignored."

Harry was stunned. "Ignored? But—why would they do that?"

"I have a different... it is not for you to know, Harry," she glanced at his scar, illuminated by the glowing orb in the sky. "It is no small thing to ask, but I would accompany you on your journey, if you so wish."

"Oh, yeah! I mean, of course you may. I, er, wish it. I mean, being cast out by that lot isn't exactly an ideal state."

"No. No it isn't." She turned around and cantered off. For all that she was an oddly shaped creature, Harry couldn't help admiring her grace as she left his presence.

In the morning, Harry was awoken by cool hands shaking his shoulders.

"Harry, Harry, it is first light! We must leave immediately, they'll come after us soon! There are already murmurs among those who would have you dead."

Harry needed no further word to jump to his feet, gather his few possessions and run. Malva ran alongside him, obviously going slower for his benefit. He heard galloping behind him.

"Human! You swore to begone by first light, and yet you tarry! An oath broken is not forgotten!"

Harry sprinted faster yet as a volley of arrows flew closely behind him and Malva. Harry felt himself faltering, his last breath spent. Seeing this, Malva picked him up and swung him over her back. "Hold on, Harry!" she cried. This seemed to anger the already seething centaurs behind them, and more arrows were sent after them, narrowly missing Malva's hindquarters. It wasn't until the two of them had passed the centaurs borders that they were able to slow. Malva lifted the wizard off her back and set him carefully on the ground.

"Are you alright, now?" she asked, barely panting herself.

"Yeah, I'm loads better, thanks..." a question had popped into his mind. "Malva, do you by any chance know where the sirens live?"

Malva was silent for a second, staring serenely at Harry's reddened face. "Yes. I know where they are, but that place offers only peril to passersby. It is not advisable. However, if it is your wish, we will go there." She thought for a second. "The sirens live off the shore, a great deal farther from here, near a small wizarding town. Godric's Hollow."

Harry stared at her. "Yes. That's where we'll go."

END OF CHAPTER THREE

A/N—Whee! I like it, do you? Read and review!


	4. Kathapa

CHAPTER FOUR—CARNECHIL 

Godric's Hollow was a lovely seaside resort in Northern England. It looked mostly the same as Harry could remember from pictures of his parents—or are they my parents?--except for a few renovations. The people their looked generally cheerful and good-natured, and willing to answer all his questions. It seemed from what the inhabitants remembered that Lily Potter had befriended one of the sirens who migrated there annually.

Harry was shocked at this revelation, without knowing why, but realized that now more than ever he needed to find out all he could about his birth-parents. And so, Harry and Malva made their long and tremulous way towards Carnëchil, the legendary siren caves.

The two finally stopped at a sandy bluff overlooking the sparkling waters of the sea. Not far off their was a cluster of greenish blue rocks. Harry thought he caught a glimpse of a scaly tail, but it was just a wave laughing in the sun. Harry felt Malva tense beside him. "What's wrong," he asked her, concerned.

"I hear a whispering melody from the West... I think there are sirens resting on those rocks. I fear for you. Harry? Harry, no!" She lunged forward to grab him, but he had already escaped her grasp. Lured by the siren's eerie song, Harry had stepped forward and fallen off the cliff. The two mile high cliff, which ended in scraggly rocks and sharks.

Malva, screaming in fear, rushed to the side of the cliff, watching Harry fall as though in slow motion, a shrinking figure against the deep blue of the ocean. She reached behind her in one fluid movement, grabbing an arrow from her quiver and shooting it from her bow in a high arc. The arrow plummeted as though shot from a projectile gun, catching up with the fallen boy, striking him. Malva grabbed at the rope she had hastily tied to the arrow and began tugging, arm over arm, to pull Harry to safety. Her shot was true. Harry had been saved by his left toe.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Realizing that Harry would need a few days to recover, Malva carried him to a thicket in the dark woods near a small village called Kathapa. She left him their and ran to the village to get tents and supplies as quickly as she could.

While she was gone, Harry rolled fitfully on the ground, unconscious. In a state of shock from falling nearly a thousand feet and then being pulled up by an arrow strung through his toe, he had been traumatized severely. Nothing this bad had ever happened to him, not when he fell off his broom in third year, or had all his arm bones replaced in second year, or fought off Quirrel, or when he saw Voldemort come back and had to duel him, or when he met him again in his fifth year. This was much worse. Never before had Harry been so traumatized. He gained consciousness and began sobbing quietly to himself, irrationally afraid that he had been abandoned in the forest, that Malva had deserted him in the wilderness.

Just then, Malva galloped up, her long hair flowing behind her, carrying two folded tents over her shoulder. When she saw that the boy was awake, she bent over him to check his injuries and state of health. He opened his eyes when she placed a cool hand on his forehead, checking for a temperature. At the sight of her, he felt that a huge hole in his heart had been ripped out, and sewn back with loving care. He tried not to meet her eyes.

Over the next few days, there was a mutual uncomfortableness between the two half-breeds. Never was a loving word spoken between them, but they both knew the other had fallen in love with them. Harry refused to acknowledge it in his higher brain, feeling that a monster like himself was not worthy of the beautiful centaur. By loving her, he would be placing her in imminent danger—who knew when the talents latent inside him would erupt?

That evening, as he lay in bed, he realized that if the first half of what Dumbledore had said was true, then the second half must be as well. Not only was his mother a siren, but his father was a dragon. He was nothing but the mutt of a scaly ferocious lizard. No, there was no debating the fact—Harry would have to leave Malva, and never see her again. He didn't, of course, know that Malva loved Harry to his core, and would have done so even if he were a Tyrannosaurus Rex in appearance. Still, Harry had resolved himself. He had realized the last thing he must do: find his father.

Two days later he received a reply to the letter he had sent to Charlie Weasley. Their was a herd of Hungarian Horntails settling in a valley no more than two hundred miles from where he stood. Without leaving any notes for Malva, Harry left the camp.


	5. Revelation

CHAPTER SIX–REVELATION

Harry traveled for ours with a heavy heart, noting in the back of his mind how much slower the time passed without his friend. Malva… Harry sighed as he recalled details about her and realized that he would never see her again. How could he, after all?

It took Harry almost two days to get to the herd of Hungarian Horntails, but that time seemed nothing once Harry found himself standing behind a rock, several hundred feet away from their encampment. The sirens had almost killed him through their enchanting music, but he was no fool and realized that the dragons were infinitely more dangerous. Their fire, razor-sharp claws, and impenetrable scales created a beast no man could destroy. Even as he thought these words, Harry realized that he was the beast. Outside, maybe, no scales showed, but what mattered was what he was born as.

After waiting patiently for several hours for the dragons to arrive to their settling-place, Harry decided to give up and just go in. After all, what was the worst case scenario? He would die? It didn't matter, nobody in this world would miss him. Malva… Malva was gone forevermore.

As Harry stood in the middle of the clearing and examined the nature-scape around him, he was distracted by a loud, souring sound. Loud? Souring? Screaming, Harry realized that the dragons had returned. He had only one quick glimpse of a scaly, lime-green underbelly and claws as long as his arm with sword-sharp tips before the dragon landed beside him.

Harry stepped back unconsciously. "Hello. I'm… Harry. I'm, uh, looking for my father… dad…? He lives… here, I think…" He trailed off as no sign of intelligence passed through the monster's eyes. "Please, could you… take me to my… father? He's… also… a dragon?"

He turned as if to flee when he realized that the dragon didn't understand him and was looking at him as if he were going to be its dinner. A look of fierce hunger passed over the beast's face, and it passed its long, snaky tongue over its teeth in pleasant anticipation. Harry's voice rose almost to a squeal.

"Please, I'm only looking for my father, I mean no harm, please don't hurt, please don't hurt me, I don't want to be eaten—" Harry broke off, and began running in the opposite direction, screaming at the top of his lungs. The fierce brute lunged after him, its membrany black wings stretched over a tight bone structure, an evil red gleam in its eyes, its claws fully unsheathed and prepared to strike.

Harry ran, dodging for his life, because he knew that one of those claws would terminate it. After a few narrow dodges, though, he got hit – the dagger-like spike entered his shoulder, piercing through muscles and tendons and soft tissue, a fountain of blood spouting from the source, spraying all around him. Harry screamed in anguish, feeling the claw digging further into his shoulder, and another enter his leg right above the knee. Moaning in anguish, Harry collapsed to the floor and begged the darkness to take him, but his wish wasn't granted. Red-hot pain entered every cell of his body, preventing him from breathing…

As Harry gave up all hope on his life, he heard a scream nearby. A scream? For some reason, the voice sounded familiar – feminine and delicate, sweet and in pain. Feminine? Delicate? It was Malva!

The thought of Malva in pain brought adrenaline rushing to his body and mind, and he stood up, beyond pain, wrenching out the claws caught deep within his body. After a few steps, he was near exhaustion from blood loss, but the thought of Malva kept his going for those several important minutes. He had only just managed to escape the dragon's region, though, and stop to rest leaning on a tree, when he felt cold steel behind him, touching him at a point below his right ear.

"Don't move." The instructions came from a disembodied voice like a bullet in the dark.

Harry stood still, trembling slightly from trauma and his injuries.

"Put your hands behind you."

Harry complied, and felt a coarse cord wrap around them and tie them securely together. He was then led forward through some trees, pulled as he couldn't walk well, to a caravan hidden behind a pile of stones. Inside one of the wagons, he heard Malva pleading. "Please don't hurt me, please…" Harry's blood boiled. This was his girl, his friend, his love, and nobody could hurt her! In his anger, his appearance began to change.

His wrist thickened, growing scales and small spikes which ripped through the ropes holding him. A thick layer of emerald scales grew over his body, covering and healing his wounds. His fingers lengthened, grew sharper, became claws. As he arched his back, two bat-like wings sprouted. While his stance remained that of a human, his eyes slanted into red slits of fire.

With a roar, Harry plunged to the wagon. He opened his mouth, furious, and was shocked to see roaring orange-red flames erupt from his mouth, setting the bandits on fire. With his claws and new ability, Harry frightened the bandits away, and then stood stock still, shocked to the core of his being. He was a… dragon? But... he wanted to be human! As this thought crossed his mind, he realized that his body was changing back to that of a human being.

A soft, quiet voice interrupted his thoughts. "Harry. Thank you. You were…amazing."

And Harry realized, as he turned to his love and wife-to-be, that it really didn't matter what he looked like. What mattered was the flame that burned inside him… the flame that was singing in his heart.

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A/N: I hope everybody liked it! Yes this is the end, but I could probably do a sequel if you really want. I'm not really sure, though, so please give me feedback! Thanks a lot to everyone who reviewed, it was really sweet of you and incouraged me to keep on writing.

Love,

-MissTurkey 


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